


Collected But Not Calm

by RockSunner



Series: Smart Adversaries AU [42]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Capture, Chat Noir Reveal, Episode: s02 Le Collectionneur | The Collector, Escape, F/F, Identity Reveal, Immobility, Ladybug Reveal, Ladybug!Adrien, Peacock!Marinette, Peril, Romance, Transformation, Villain against himself, peacock!Emilie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-01-05 02:40:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18356942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockSunner/pseuds/RockSunner
Summary: What if the Collector captured the Foosball table before Ladybug could use it against him?





	1. Collected

Chat Noir and Ladybug were at the far end of the dining room of the Agreste Mansion. The Collector pursued them.

Chat Noir threw his baton, and the Collector held out his Book to receive it. The baton was swallowed up and turned into an image, decorated with Chat Noir's symbolic paw print.

The Collector was very pleased. "Nice piece, wouldn't you agree?"

Chat Noir gasped. He picked up one of the dining table's chairs and threw it at the Collector.

Another image for the Book, but this one was too commonplace. The Collector wiped his hand over the image and erased it as his opponents fled the room.

The chair didn't reappear in the room – and the Collector felt something stir in the back of his mind. Why was this a problem?

"It means trouble," said Gabriel Agreste in the back of his mind. "Capturing Ladybug and Chat Noir in the Book could mean you can't get at their Miraculous. You can't erase them back out, grab their jewelry while they're stunned, and put them back in again."

"Who cares?" the Collector said aloud to himself. "I'm the Collector and Gabriel Agreste's problems mean little to me. There's no Hawk Moth to order me around, to send me pain, or to pull my power. I can do as I please. I just want their images in my Book."

Even so, Gabriel's will was strong enough to make the Collector look in a couple of the adjoining rooms for the chair, just in case. It wasn't there.

* * *

In the distance, the Collector heard the shout of "Lucky Charm!"

This was very bad! Watching many akuma battles as Hawk Moth had taught him just how effective a weapon the Lucy Charm was. The hint of precognition it gave Ladybug about what to do, plus a huge boost of luck to make her plans succeed, had thwarted him time after time.

He cautiously went to the door of the dining room that lead to the entrance hall, and listened.

"I have no idea what to do with this," said Ladybug. "We need to stall him."

Time to attack! The voice came from the other side of the main staircase. He collected the stairs, revealing them.

Ladybug had a spotted bicycle pedal on her right hip, attached to her belt. That must be her Lucky Charm. If she didn't see a way to use it, the Collector was safe for now.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir, you shall be the masterpieces in my new Book of Inspiration."

The fight got intense. The Collector tried to touch Chat Noir with the Book, and he would have succeed if Ladybug hadn't snagged his arm with her yo-yo. The Collector spun around and hurled the Book at her. She ducked, and also evaded it as it returned to his hand.

The Collector tangled with Chat Noir again, and Chat kicked his hand so that the Book flew out of it.

Ladybug caught the Collector's leg with her yo-yo as he leaped for the Book. As the Collector strained to reach it, it came to him. He touched the Book to the line and the whole yo-yo disappeared. Ladybug staggered back, off balance.

"My collection's growing!" the Collector gloated, looking at the picture of the yo-yo with its accompanying Ladybug icon.

"No!" said Ladybug, clearly anguished over the loss of her weapon.

The two heroes leaped up as the villain threw the Book at them again. They hid on the floor above, concealed by the hall's balcony wall. The Collector couldn't get a direct shot at them.

"So, that must mean... Gabriel Agreste can't possibly be Hawk Moth, since he's been akumatized!" said Chat Noir.

A part of the Collector recognized this thought as the goal of this exercise. He held back for a moment to let them talk.

"You call Agreste turning into the Collector good news?" said Ladbug.

Good enough. The Collector leaped up and captured the balcony wall, exposing them again.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir ran into Adrien's room and barricaded the door with furniture.

"Gabriel Agreste's son isn't at home?" asked Ladybug.

"Maybe the Collector's already captured him," said Chat Noir.

"You think he'd take it out on his own son?" asked Ladybug.

The part of him that was still Gabriel cringed a bit when he heard that, but the Collector wished he had gotten the boy. Adrien should have been there – he was grounded, after all. The Collector would have had Nathalie, Gustav the bodyguard, and Adrien all together – a nice set.

"You cannot escape from me," said the Collector, removing the barricade with swipe after swipe of his Book.

The Collector heard Ladybug say something quietly, but he couldn't make it out. He charged into the room.

Chat Noir leaped to the upper shelf level where Adrien had a massive collection of CD's. Ladybug jumped behind the large flat-screen TV.

"But before I immortalize you, allow me to seize your Miraculous for Hawk Moth."

The Collector said that partially as an act, and partially because his Gabriel side was pushing him to find a way to do just that. He pushed the thought aside again in favor of collecting their images.

"Chat Noir, I need ammunition!" Ladybug called as the TV shielding her disappeared.

"You need what?" asked Chat.

"We're gonna complete his collection!" said Ladybug, grabbing a fencing trophy from a shelf.

She back-flipped away from the Collector and threw the trophy against the CD shelves, making a few fall out in front of Chat.

"Very smart, m'Lady. Quite ingenious," said Chat.

"Less talking, more doing!" said Ladybug.

She had leaped to the upper shelf level, chased by the Collector. As she passed Chat Noir, she grabbed his belt and jumped back to the floor below.

That was the moment of truth for the Collector. He knew that when Ladybug took Chat Noir's belt that it had to be for some sort of Lucky Charm assembly. He must not let her complete it!

Instead of engaging Chat Noir again, the Collector leaped down after Ladybug.

She was starting to work with the Foosball table, looping the belt around the player handles on one side.

The Collector flung his Book and the game table disappeared. He landed and the Book snapped back into his hand.

Ladybug was caught off guard when the object she was working on vanished. The Collector swiped her into the Book.

"Nooo!" shouted Chat Noir. He leaped down after the Collector.

Without a pole to change his direction, Chat Noir's path was perfectly predictable. The Collector held up the Book and collected Chat too.

The Collector stared at the images of Ladybug and Chat Noir on facing pages.

"Ha! I've done it! I've done it!"

The inner Gabriel cried out, "What have I done?"

* * *

Inside the book, conscious but motionless, Ladybug looked out into the room.

Were they going to be stuck like this forever?


	2. Paper Trail

"I've akumatized myself and there's no way back," said the Collector aloud. "This isn't what I intended, but I'll live with it. I'll collect Emilie in her glass coffin. At least her coma won't get any worse and I can see her beautiful, inspiring face every day. I'll get Adrien too, wherever he's hiding. Then I can travel and collect the most inspiring people and things in the world."

The Collector closed the book.

* * *

It was pitch dark for Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Ladybug thought about what she had heard. "He akumatized himself. So I was right – he's Hawk Moth! It's a little late to figure that out."

Ladybug heard a faint beep from her left earring. "I used my Lucky Charm and I'm timing out," she thought. "I wonder if I'll turn into a picture of Marinette? Focus! I have a working Miraculous for the next few minutes. And there's sound in here. How can I use that?"

Ladybug called out, "Hello! Can anyone hear me?"

Her voice was very faint. Even yelling couldn't be heard from outside the book.

Chat Noir answered from the page immediately facing her, "Ladybug! I got caught, too."

"Oh no!" said Ladybug. "I'm sorry, Chaton."

"I just learned something terrible about my family," said Chat. "We've got to get out of here and stop the Collector!"

"You're related to Gabriel Agreste?" asked Ladybug.

"I'll explain later," said Chat. "I'll use my power of destruction to break us out. Cata..."

"Stop! We're part of the book. If you destroy it we'll die. Just being on a page with your power activated will set it off."

"It's a last resort. I don't want to be stuck like this forever."

"Me neither, but the akuma butterfly would be released with nobody to purify it. Remember Stoneheart."

"I have another idea. If I focus hard enough, I can move myself around on the page. I'm going to try to get to the next page, and keep going."

"We're only a few blank pages from the end of the book. What then?"

"I'll put myself on the inside of the cover and destroy only that. It will free the butterfly and that will let you do a Miraculous Ladybug cure. That will restore both of us."

"I'll try to move too, and follow you. I wish you didn't have to do this... but it's the only hope we have."

Ladybug focused. There was no motion in her arms and legs, but she found with concentration that she could slide her whole image back and forth.

"I'm moving! How are you doing, Chat Noir?"

"Ugh! Let me focus. I'm trying to wrap myself around the edge of the paper to get to the next page."

"I can't get to your page that way, even if I go down to the spine. Our pages aren't connected. I'm going to try something else. Is there space in the middle of your page now?"

"Yes."

Knowing that the page she wanted to get to was right in front of her face, Ladybug willed herself to leap forward.

It was painful, but she managed to transfer the magical ink of her image to the next page. She was reversed. Her right hand was now her left, but at least she had made it.

"Chat Noir, I'm on your page," said Ladybug. "You're going to need the trick I used."

Ladybug described the leaping trick. Chat described how to do edge-wrapping.

* * *

The two heroic pictures kept going, page by page.

"I'm getting worn out, m'Lady," said Chat. "This is really hard. Can we take a rest?"

"Please keep on," said Ladybug. "You have to get there before I time out or it's all for nothing."

Finally Chat said, "I'm on the cover. Cata..."

"Wait! I need to figure out how I can throw my Lucky Charm. It's stuck to the hip of my picture and my arms won't move!"

"Slide over to the side of your page. I'll come back and use the edge of my image to snap off a pedal or something."

"This is like the book _Flatland_ ," said Ladybug.

"Catland," said Chat Noir.

"That joke fell really flat," said Ladybug.

* * *

They were finally ready. Chat was back on the cover and Ladybug had a pedal from the Lucky Charm positioned.

"Cataclysm!"

After a moment's pause to let the butterfly out, Ladybug bumped the pedal higher on the page with her head and invoked: "Miraculous Ladybug!"

With a swarm of red ladybugs everything returned to normal. They were in a large room with a vaulted ceiling with lights along the sides. There was water below them, and a bridge over it led to an indoor garden and some sort of large box in front of a huge round window with closed shutters like the iris of a camera.

Ladybug had her yo-yo again. She caught and purified the akuma butterfly.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly."

Gabriel Agreste got up from the ground.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You akumatized yourself, Hawk Moth," said Chat Noir in a bitterly angry voice. "We've caught you. You monster!"


	3. Wish You Were Here

Chat Noir gripped Gabriel's shoulder with a clawed hand.

"Where's the Butterfly Miraculous?" Chat demanded.

"How do you imagine I could be Hawk Moth? I was just akumatized," said Gabriel.

"Your Collector persona got us both into his book," said Ladybug. "He talked to himself and spilled the beans. He probably thought we couldn't hear him, or that we'd never get out if we did."

"Then we escaped," said Chat Noir. "Too bad for you."

"I don't remember anything," said Gabriel. "Perhaps Hawk Moth made me say something to put me under suspicion and throw you off the track of his true identity."

"Nice try," said Ladybug. "Plenty of other clues point to you, like the butterfly styling of your logo and home decorations."

"Circumstantial evidence," said Gabriel.

"You came to this room as the Collector," said Chat. "What _is_ this place? I don't recognize it."

"Why should you? It's a private chapel beneath my home," said Gabriel. "You've only seen a few rooms upstairs, when you attempted to secure the mansion against Simon Says."

"What's in that big box?" asked Chat Noir, pointing to it.

"Not the Butterfly Miraculous, if that's what you think."

Ladybug's earrings beeped rapidly.

"Chaton, why don't you take Mr. Agreste there and have a look?" said Ladybug. "I'll go back along the hallway to detransform and feed my kwami."

"I'll need to do that soon too, m'Lady," said Chat, glancing at his ring pads. "Your cure that resurrected me didn't make my kwami less hungry."

"We'll spell each other," said Ladybug. "I have to bug out first."

Ladybug ran down the hall.

"Come on, Agreste," said Chat Noir. "Let's see it."

Chat Noir began dragging Gabriel across the bridge toward the indoor garden area.

"I refuse to let you look there. It's an invasion of my privacy," said Gabriel.

"Did I say you had a choice?" asked Chat Noir.

* * *

While Marinette was waiting for Tikki to finish the macaron that she had in her purse, she heard a scream of rage.

Chat yelled, "You had my mother down here all along! What is this, some kind of psycho shrine?"

"Your – your mother?" asked Gabriel. "You can't be..."

"I am... I was... You're not my father any more. Monster!"

Marinette said, "Hurry, Tikki. I have to get back to Chat. I can't believe it... He's Adrien Agreste!"

"This is horrible for him," said Tikki. "Finding out about his father... and something about his mother. I'm ready now."

"Tikki, spots on!"

Ladybug raced across the bridge to where Chat Noir and Gabriel stood before a glass-topped coffin. Inside it was a beautiful woman with long blond hair. Marinette recognized her from pictures she had seen as Emilie Agreste, Adrien's mother.

Chat said, "You murdered her and kept her body to gloat over!"

"Calm down Adrien, she's not dead. She's in a magical coma," said Gabriel.

"That's what the Collector said. He said if he captured her image her coma wouldn't get any worse," said Ladybug.

"That's sick," said Chat Noir. "You were going to put her into your book and keep us all like that forever."

"I can't believe my akumatized form would do that to Emilie. All of this has been about bringing her back," said Gabriel. "He should have taken your Miraculous and gotten a wish."

"A wish?" asked Ladybug. "So that's what you've been after as Hawk Moth."

Gabriel seemed to realize he had said too much. He hung his head.

"The power of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous combined can alter reality, granting the holder one wish. I only wanted to revive Emilie. It could still happen if you let me use your Miraculous. Adrien... don't you want her back?"

Chat Noir gasped. "We could bring her back?"

"How do you know this?" asked Ladybug suspiciously.

"It was all in a rare book Adrien lost. There's a section about getting a wish using the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous: it's the only part I was able to decode."

"So that's why you were so upset about the lost book," said Ladybug. "I found it and you're not getting it back. It's another reason I suspected you."

Chat looked startled but said nothing.

"That was an act to set up my akumatization. I have an electronic copy."

Chat Noir had reached his time limit. He let himself detransform. Plagg floated next to Adrien and landed on his shoulder, looking tired.

"Ladybug, we could do this," said Adrien. "We could bring my mother back!"

"We can't trust him to make a wish," said Ladybug. "He could wish to rule the world instead."

"Let me do it, then," said Adrien.

"Kid, you're making a big mistake," said Plagg. "I'll tell you more, but I'm weak from hunger. Give me some Camembert first!"

"I don't want anyone talking me out of it," said Adrien.

Nathalie entered the room, followed by the gorilla-like bodyguard (the Collector had said his name was Gustav).

"I have something to tell you that may change your mind," said Nathalie. "I helped with the translation. There is a price the universe will require to bring her back. Someone else will go into a coma instead."

"Nathalie, why are you betraying me like this?" asked Gabriel. "I thought you were on my side."

"I was on your side, and I loved that you were trying to bring your family back together. But I can't let Adrien be the one to wish. It would destroy him if he found out later that he had wished someone else into his mother's state."

"You're right, it would," said Adrien.

"I still feel betrayed," said Gabriel.

"So do Gustav and I," said Nathalie.

Gustav grunted and nodded in agreement.

"I didn't mind at first that the Collector trapped me in the Book," said Nathalie. "It was only supposed to be for a little while. The superheroes were supposed to free the akuma, and that would put Gabriel above suspicion. It all went wrong when the Collector won. I heard what the Collector said when the book was open. When I thought I was going to be trapped forever... it made me look at things differently. I can't be part of this anymore."

"If you've been helping him all along, you're part of the conspiracy to terrorize Paris," said Ladybug. "You two are going to prison, too."

"Gustav had nothing to do with it." said Nathalie. "I explained everything just before I brought him down here."

Gustav nodded again.

"We have to call the police," said Ladybug.

"I already have," said Nathalie.

* * *

Nathalie got the Butterfly Miraculoius from the attic room and Peacock Miraculous from the safe and turned them over to Ladybug before the police arrived.

The police took Gabriel and Nathalie away. Gustav remained, but his testimony would be required later. He went to his own room.

Plagg said, "I'm so hungry! I'm going to your mini-fridge for cheese."

Ladybug and Adrien followed and sat together on the couch in Adrien's room.

"I wish there was something we could do for my mother."I can't wish her condition on someone else, but still..."

"I know someone who might be able to help," said Ladybug. "I just met him and I'm not sure what I'm allowed to tell you, but I'll ask."

"You're right... I don't deserve to be trusted. I'm the son of a supervillain," said Adrien. "I was even carrying around his suspicious book. I guess it was you who took it from my bag?"

"No, Lila took it when you were with her at the library. My kwami recognized it and told me it was important, so I followed Lila. She dumped it in a trash can when she saw you coming at the park. I got it back after I confronted her."

"But you said nothing about the book to me, because you couldn't trust me."

"It's not like that," said Ladybug. "I trust you completely. It's just that the secret wasn't mine to tell."

"You were right all along to reject my love... You would have been dragged into this mess."

"I'm standing by you. You're my partner, and more that that, I care deeply about you. In civilian life I have a huge crush on you, Adrien."

"A fangirl crush... that's nice, but please just forget me. I'm not going to be popular after this. The Gabriel company and everyone associated with it will be dragged through the mud. People will say I must have known."

"I don't care if you're popular or not! Its not a fangirl crush. I've gotten to know you on both sides of the mask. You're sweet and kind as Adrien, and a great partner as Chat."

"But you never connected my two sides until today, right? So I don't think you know me all that well."

"I could say the same for you. In fact I'll show you. Tikki, spots off!"

"Marinette!" said Tikki in a cross voice.

"What? Marinette?" said Adrien.

"See! You never connected my two sides, either."

"I guess we're strangers to each other."

"No! We've been friends on both sides. We can get to know each other better."

"We'll see... in the meantime I have a lot to deal with and I need to be alone."

"I'm going to go talk to the person and try to get help for your mother. I'm not going to abandon you. Spots on."

* * *

Marinette brought the Butterfly pin and the Peacock broach back to Master Fu. Tikki hugged Nooroo and Duusu. Duusu shed gushers of tears of joy. Nooroo was more reserved, but clearly delighted to be back.

"These two kwamis have been severely abused," Master Fu said. "I will feed them and let them rest before I talk to them about what has happened."

"Master Fu, is there any hope for Adrien's mother?"

"I do not yet know. Healing Duusu may help. Come back tomorrow and I will tell you more."


	4. Coma Dose

School the next day was buzzing with rumors about Hawk Moth.

Adrien wasn't there. Lila was also absent (she sent people texts that she was going on a round-the-world trip with her parents).

The class began to gossip about Adrien.

"I think Gabriel Agreste sent Adrien to our school to spy out opportunities to make akumas," said Kim.

"That makes sense," said Alix. "That's why so many in our class were targeted!"

"The first akuma victim was Ivan, the day _before_ Adrien came to school," said Marinette.

"But the next day when he was there, Ivan got akumatized again," said Max.

"If Adrien was working for Hawk Moth, then you would think he would try to get people upset. He never did – Adrien was nice to everyone," said Marinette.

"Yes, it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," said Chloé. "Adrikins would never do that. You might as well suspect me of working for Hawk Moth."

"Maybe we should," said Alya. "You're caused a ton of akuma victims. Maybe Adrien recruited you to do the dirty work. You're an old friend of his."

"Not a chance! When I upset people I always have a good reason," said Chloé.

"Alya, we don't know that Adrien knew anything about what his father was doing," said Marinette. "I can't believe all of you of all people would turn on him without proof!"

"You're right, I'm sorry," said Alya.

Nino gave Marinette a thumbs up of agreement.

There was some muttering in the rest of the class about how Marinette would of course defend Adrien since she was sweet on him, but for the most part the talk died down.

* * *

Marinette went back to Master Fu's shop as early as she could after school.

"I have spoken to Duusu about what happened to Emilie Agreste," said Master Fu.

"What was it?" asked Marinette.

Master Fu said, "The Peacock Miraculous was lost because of my careless mistake. It was passed down in her family for years."

"What does it do?" asked Marinette.

"The power of the Peacock is Expression. It can help someone to express their feelings, summoning up a powerful creature under the Miraculous wielder's control. The Peacock's magic weapon is a feathered fan. The wielder can pluck a bit of fluff from the fan, charge it with magic, and send it to an object belonging to a person. It makes a mental link."

Marinette asked, "So it's just like the power of the Butterfly?"

"They are similar, and both have often been used together to empower a hero and a companion animal."

"What did Emilie Agreste do with it?"

"She used another aspect of Expression which can affect the wielder's health. She used it only to preserve her youth and beauty."

"I saw a picture of her at age seventeen," said Marinette. "She looked almost exactly the same in photos taken years later."

"It must have been useful to her as a model and an actress," said Master Fu.

"A Miraculous isn't supposed to be used for anything selfish," said Tikki, hovering beside Marinette.

"That is correct," said Master Fu. "Years of misuse damaged the Miraculous, which in turn damaged Emilie herself. The side effect of trying to keep herself from the ravages of time slowed her down."

"What did she do then?" asked Marinette.

"Emilie and Gabriel went to Tibet. They followed clues in her family records to a secret cache where another Miraculous and a secret grimoire were hidden. They hoped to find a solution to her problem, but it was too late. She slipped into a magical coma, and remains in that state to this day."

"And Gabriel has been trying to get the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous to wish her out of it."

"That would be an even worse abuse, and the universe would require a balance."

"So Hawk Moth had the Butterfly and the Peacock, but he only used the first," said Marinette.

"He was afraid to use the damaged Miraculous in case it also hurt him," said Master Fu.

"Is there any way to help Emilie Agreste now?" asked Marinette. "Adrien needs his mother back."

"She will have to pay a price to recover," said Master Fu. "The years she has kept from showing will come back, and even a little more."

"That seems fair in exchange for being awake again," said Marinette.

"Yes, but it cannot be imposed on her without her consent," said Master Fu.

"How can we get her consent when she's in a coma?" asked Marinette.

"There is a way, but it is very dangerous," said Master Fu. "Someone must use the Peacock Miraculous to summon a magical creature to enter her dreams. They must speak through the creature, and persuade her to come back to life for the price of her beauty."

"But... you said the Miraculous was damaged. Is it fixed now?" asked Marinette.

"I've done what I could but it is still unstable," said Master Fu.

"Then, whoever used the Miraculous could..."

"Yes, they could become ill, or even fall into a coma themselves. It would be safest for an experienced Miraculous wielder, one with pure motives..."

"Like me?"

"It could be Chat Noir. But since his mind is upset and the stakes are so personal for him, he would be much more at risk."

"I'll do it," said Marinette.

"Marinette, you don't have to!" said Tikki. "You have a personal stake in this, too. I don't want to lose you!"

"I've made up my mind," said Marinette. "Adrien needs his mother, especially now."


	5. Dream Scrape

Marinette met Adrien at the Agreste mansion that evening. She explained what she would try to do to get his mother out of her coma.

"Thank you," said Adrien. "She's still down there. The police searched the house but they haven't found all the secret passages yet. I didn't tell them about her because I was hoping..."

"Good," said Marinette. "It would be better if she isn't discovered by the public before she wakes up. This is going to change her appearance if it works."

"I don't care about that. I just want her alive again," said Adrien.

* * *

Marinette and Adrien used the secret elevators to reach the chapel room. They approached the glass-topped coffin.

Marinette took out the Peacock Miraculous. "Are you ready, Duusu?"

"Yes... I think so," said the deep-blue kwami. "I am feeling much better than yesterday."

"We could wait until you're better," said Marinette.

"No, my former mistress is sinking deeper into her sleep. We must act now, before it's too late."

"Duusu, fan out!"

Marinette spun around and a dark blue dress with peacock-feather edges trailed around her to the floor. She had a round cocktail hat with a veil that covered half of her face. In her right hand was a peacock-feather fan with white fluffy edges. She was now Lady Paon.

The feathers made Adrien feel like sneezing, but he held off for his mother's sake.

Lady Paon pulled a bit of white fluff from the edge of her fan and held it in her hand. Blue energy flowed into it, darkening it similarly to the way Hawk Moth had poured his evil magic into white butterflies. She held up the feather and blew it toward Adrien. It landed on his shirt.

A mask of light appeared on Lady Paon's face, and also on Adrien's.

"Adrien, I sense your deep longing for your mother's return," said Lady Paon both with her voice and by a mental link. "Let your feelings be embodied in a creature with the power to reach her!"

"Yes," said Adrien, bowing his head.

A large beast appeared beside them, with the body of a tiger, and the face and trunk of an elephant. It was a Baku, a dream-eater of Japanese legends. It was all gray like an elephant – even its tiger stripes were in shades of gray.

"I'm going in," said Lady Paon, calling on the Baku's power to enter the dream world of Emilie Agreste.

* * *

The dream world was a forest in muted peacock-feather colors. The tree's leaves and the ground foliage was made of hundreds of feathers.

The dream image of Lady Paon walked deeper into the woods.

"Emilie Agreste? Where are you?" called Lady Paon.

"This way," said a quiet voice.

Dream Emilie was reclining on a chaise lounge in an octagonal gazebo among what looked like weeping willow trees with long, thin feathers dangling down.

Emilie looked as beautiful as her portraits, perhaps even more so since this was her own imagination.

"Emilie, I'm here to bring you home," said Lady Paon. "Your son Adrien needs you."

"And Gabriel?"

"I'm afraid he's been caught doing some terrible things. It was all to try to help you, but he's going to be sent to prison."

"Oh no! What has he done?"

"We can discuss that later. Right now I need to get you free of your coma."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. All I need to do is to get you to agree to one condition."

"What is that?"

"The artificial lack of aging you maintained damaged the Peacock Miraculous. That's why you went into a trance. All you have to do is to give up the youth that isn't rightfully yours, and let your true age show. Perhaps a little more than that, to make up for bending the rules of the universe through magic."

"My youth? My beauty? It's all I have!"

"Right now, it _is_ all you have. You're asleep in a glass coffin, beautiful but practically dead. Don't you want to be really alive again?"

"It's not that simple. What do you know of the problems of age? You seem to be very young."

"I'm fourteen, about the same as your son. We go to school together."

"Adrien is home-schooled. My husband and I wouldn't permit him to go to a regular school."

"Why not?"

"If he started having friends his age, meeting their mothers – he would wonder why I don't look as old as they do."

"I'm sorry, but that's just crazy. You have to give up this youth obsession in order to get well."

"I would kill to be fourteen again, like you."

"Unfortunately, there's no way to do that."

"Or is there?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm very familiar with the magic of the Peacock Miraculous. I was its master for years, after all. I can take control of the Baku you used to get here, leave you trapped here in my comatose body, and take over your body in your place."

"No! I won't let you!"

"You can't stop me. I have complete control here in my dream world."

Emilie got up from the chair and waved her hand at the surrounding trees.

The long feathers from the weeping willows pulled loose from their trees and launched themselves at Lady Paon. She tried to leap out of the way but tripped on the long skirt. She dropped her fan (not that she had learned to use it as a weapon, because she wasn't expecting a fight).

A long feather wrapped around her left wrist. Lady Paon tried to pull it loose, but it stuck like glue. Her right hand stuck to the feather also.

As she struggled to her feet with her hands encumbered, more feathers wrapped around and bound her legs together.

Lady Paon fought hard, but she was soon wrapped with feathers from neck to foot. More feathers formed handles that pulled her onto a sitting position on the chaise lounge, with her legs on the supporting surface. The feathers wove themselves into thick bands, binding her legs and upper torso to the chair.

"You won't get away with - mmph!" said Lady Paon as her open mouth was filled with a ball of feathers and more long feathers wrapped tightly around her mouth, holding the gag in place.

"Yes, I will," said Emilie. "Adrien will be too distressed to notice anything when I tell him I tried and failed to rouse his mother from her coma. I'll start a new life as a young woman, modeling and acting again."

Emile moved out of the gazebo. She gestured again, and more feathers began to weave themselves around the eight pillars of the gazebo, starting to turn the open spaces into solid walls.

"I've ordered the whole forest of feathers to pack themselves around you. The new walls will hold them in. I don't think you can die of suffocation in dream space, but they will keep you nicely immobilized as long as this body lives."

Lady Paon thrashed against her bonds.

"Don't worry, Adrien may decide to euthanize this body someday soon. Or you may be in for many years of waiting in a nursing home."

"She's even more evil than her husband," thought Lady Paon as she struggled. "She makes him look like a baby in comparison. This is worse than the book."


	6. Mummy Dearest

Adrien was waiting when Lady Paon opened her eyes.

"How did it go?" Adrien asked anxiously. "Can you reach my mother and get her free?"

"I'm sorry, Adrien. I tried but I can't free her," said Lady Paon. "She's locked in her dream world – she'll never be able to move or speak again."

"Oh no! Can I at least communicate with her?"

"She's completely cut off from her senses and can't respond to sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste. It would be a mercy to kill her before she goes insane from boredom."

"No! I can't believe it. Give me the Miraculous and let me try."

"It won't help and it's too dangerous. I just barely escaped myself."

Adrien touched the glass coffin, staring sadly at his mother's body.

"I wish we could help her. I almost see why... why Hawk Moth wanted a wish."

"Yes," said Lady Paon in an uncertain voice, almost as if she didn't know what he was talking about.

Adrien pulled the ring off of his finger.

"Here's the Black Cat Miraculous. You can give it to the man you met, the one who has the book now. He's the expert and he'll know how to find a good replacement for me. My identity is compromised."

"I'll do that," said Lady Paon, taking the ring.

"That was a little cold," Adrien thought. "Isn't she going to protest even a little bit, or say that she will miss me as a partner?"

"Are you giving back your Miraculous also?" he asked.

Her attitude would be more understandable if that were the case. There would be no more supervillains to fight, after all.

"Yes, I'll give back the Peacock Miraculous," said Lady Paon. "I don't need it any more."

Adrien stared at her. "What's going on? You know that's not what I meant. What about the earrings?"

Lady Paon had a brief look of surprise, and felt her ears. "Right, these... I'll give them back also."

"Something's wrong," said Adrien. "What's happened to you? There's no way you would forget about the Ladybug Miraculous!"

"It's the shock of mental travel," said Lady Paon. "It disturbed my memories."

Adrien's suspicions were aroused.

"Let's test it," Adrien said. "Do you know your address?"

"This house is at 1841 Rue Morgue."

"I mean your home address."

"I... don't remember."

"It's 12 Rue Gotlib. What about your name as a civilian?"

"I don't know that either."

"This is weird, Marinette. You knew my name, and could rattle off the address of this house. But your own name and address? It's almost like you have the memories of my mother rather than your own."

"I guess it could be cross-contamination from her mind. It was weird in dreamspace."

"This is bad. You're going to need help from the Miraculous expert," said Adrien. "Do you remember where he lives?"

"No."

"Let's call our kwamis for help. Plagg flew off to the kitchen to look for Camembert and I think Tikki went with him. Give me the ring back and I'll call him. They'll help if we ask."

Lady Paon shook her head and held the ring tightly in her hand.

"No. I don't want to face your kwami right now. Or the Ladybug kwami."

"Why not?"

"Not until I've become master of the ring and the earrings."

"You're not making sense. You're not like yourself at all. Who are you?"

The elephant-headed, tiger-bodied Baku, which had been standing placidly, made a sudden move. It grabbed Adrien in its trunk and pinned him against the wall, with its tusks on either side of his body.

Adrien struggled against the monster's strength, regretting that he had given up his ring.

"Marinette! What are you doing?" asked Adrien. "Let me go!"

"I'm not Marinette," said Lady Paon.

She brushed back her hair with a gesture Adrien recognized.

"Mother?" asked Adrien in shock. "Is that you?"

"I was Emilie Agreste," said Lady Paon. "Now I'm leaving to start a new life in this young body."

"What happened to Marinette?"

"She's trapped in my old body, just as I described."

"This isn't like you. You're abandoning the family? Don't you love me anymore?"

"I've always loved you in my own way – you were so cute as a baby. But I have to look out for my own interests. I gather that your father has done something scandalous and will be going to prison. I don't care to be stuck in the middle of that."

"I thought you were so sweet and kind. You're worse than my father – at least he fought to get the family back together."

"I'm an actress. The 'sweet and kind' role was easy to play. You should know, as a model. Are all your smiles for the camera real?"

"What will you do? You can't fool Marinette's family. They'll catch on even faster than I did."

"I don't need her family. I'll do just fine on my own with the power of three Miraculous."

"What are you going to do about me? I know who you really are."

"The sentimonster will hold you while I escape. I'll dismiss it once I'm far enough away. You can try to tell them about me, but nobody will believe you. Poor Adrien Agreste, he lost his mind when he found out about his father was a villain, his mother was in a coma, and his girlfriend ran away."

"Sentimonster, from sentiment – feelings," Adrien thought. "It was created from my feelings. Lady Paon sent a feather into my shirt. Is that just like an akumatized object?"

"This creature was summoned with my desire to bring you back," said Adrien. "Now... I don't feel the same way."

The Baku bellowed and seemed to weaken a little, letting Adrien go.

Adrien jammed his shirt over one of its tusks, tearing a hole in it – a dark blue feather was released. As it fluttered to the ground, the Baku vanished.

Adrien ran at Lady Paon, but he stopped short before he reached her. What was he going to do now?

"You can't hurt the body of your girlfriend, but I can hurt you," said Lady Paon.

She moved toward him, but then she stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Aaagh! I'm getting feedback from the Peacock Miraculous. It's still damaged!" cried Lady Paon, passing out.

Adrien knew she might wake up any second and that he needed to have magical strength to defend himself.

The ring was still clenched tightly in her hand, so Adrien grabbed the Ladybug earrings from her. They attached by magic without piercings, so he was able to take them off and put them on his own ears. Maybe with the Ladbug's powers he could do something to help Marinette.

"Tikki, spots on!"

Tikki was pulled into the earring from a distance and Adrien transformed to Lad Bug, with a black suit and a spotted red cape.

Plagg came flying in. "What gives, kid?"

"I need to undo some magical harm done by a misused Miraculous. Does Ladybug's charm work on other magic than akuma damage?"

"Sure it does, " said Plagg. "The power isn't just for dealing with harm caused by a rogue Butterfly wielder. That's a rare case; the last time was thousands of years ago. Just follow the steps – you know the drill."

"Lucky Charm!" called Adrien.

He got a weighted net, which he threw over Lady Paon.

Just to make sure he dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's, Lad Bug chose to purify the feather first.

"No more evil-doing for you, little feather," said Lad Bug, adapting the ritual phrase.

He picked up the dark feather from the floor and dropped it into the glowing compartment of the yo-yo. He shook out the pure white feather.

"Bye-bye, little feather!"

Lad Bug pulled one of the weights off the net so that he could throw it into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Magical ladybugs swarmed around the room, visiting the fallen Lady Paon and the coffin.

Lady Paon groaned and stirred.

"Adrien? Why are you in a Ladybug suit?"

Lad Bug asked her suspiciously, "Are you back to yourself? Where did we do yesterday afternoon?"

"We escaped the pages of the Collector's book, for one thing."

"Welcome back," said Lad Bug, giving her a hug. "My mother took your place in your body. I had to do a Miraculous Ladybug charm to try to get you free. She said you would be trapped for life and cut off from all senses."

"I was, because she trapped me. I was starting to give up hope. When the cure came through, I sensed her taking my place in the bonds she created for me."

"Do you think she'll ever be able to get out?"

"I don't know. I couldn't move at all with the bindings she put on me. She gestured to control things there. But it's her dream world, so maybe..."

"I don't think I want her to. Both my parents are evil, and she's the worse of the two."

"I'm not willing to go back in and help her, after what she did. What should we do about her?"

"She suggested mercy killing, before I knew it was you in there. I can't do that. I'll let the authorities know about her. They can deal with her."

* * *

After they both detransformed, they Adrien and Marinette continued to talk.

"Are you all right?" asked Marinette. "You seem calmer than I would be."

"It's shock," said Adrien. "It still doesn't seem real. I know there will be pain later."

"At least the worst is over."

"No, there's much worse to come for me. There will a scandal, a trial, the press..."

"We'll face it together."

A text came through on Adrien's phone.

"It's Chloé," said Adrien. "She heard about what happened on the news and she wants to put me up at her father's hotel until things calm down."

"Don't let her get her hooks into you. You can stay at my house. You could sleep on our sofa, or on my chaise lounge."

"If you're sure it's all right, I would rather stay with you."

"It will be. My parents will be super-supportive. Come on, let's get back upstairs so you can pack a few things."

As Marinette started to head out, she stumbled. "Aagh!"

"Careful! Your body was hit by backlash from the damaged Peacock Miraculous. That's how I was able to win the fight when my mother came back in your body."

Marinette was limping. Adrien put an arm around her and helped to support her.

"I'm glad you won, but now I'll have to live with the consequences."

"Life you said, we'll get through this together," said Adrien.

**The End**


End file.
